Education in rural India: Schools, children, and charity

After India gained independence in 1947, the first Educational Minister had a vision of a country with centralized governmental control over education, and with a uniform educational system available to all children. Today, an estimated 80% of all primary education facilities for pupils up to the age of14 are government run or sponsored. Unfortunately, a shortage of resources and declining enthusiasm from the government mean the system suffers.

The pupil to teacher ratios low in most areas, especially in India’s rural centers. The lack of a solid infrastructure for training teachers leaves 40% of educators untrained. Poor facilities and a general lack of resources make things even worse. Education for children up to 14 is free, and though it is compulsory, attendance is typically low.

In 1994 the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was launched. Under this scheme, more than 160,000 new schools were opened. The initiative was governmentally funded, but also received support from UNICEF. While gross enrollment has increased since the program was put into place, the quality of education has not.

In recent years, public expenditure on education has decreased, despite the poor state of the system and the ever-growing need for improvement. During the same period, private expenditure on education in India has grown exponentially. Much of this additional funding is coming from Indians themselves – out of pocket spending by the country’s working class population aimed at bettering the education of their children has increased 1150% during the last decade.

External funding sources also contribute to bettering the education system in India. Charitable organizations work hard to build new facilities and to improve old ones. For example, an organization called Round Table India, which has been operating since 1927, has declared one of their primary projects to be “Freedom through Education”. Through this program, the organization works to build public schools in rural areas, and to provide desperately needed infrastructure and educational accessories like books and supplies.

Round Table India has initialized over 500 projects across India in recent years, spending hundreds of millions of Rupees to improve primary education. The charity often works in conjunction with other organizations around the world to accomplish their goals, overseeing donations and projects and working to help other parties participate in the betterment of education in India.

One of Round Table India’s partners is an organization called Chennai Event Management Services (CEMS), which adventure tourism services to companies around the world. CEMS runs events like the famous Rickshaw Challenge, which sees international teams of participants race across India in autorickshaws. Along the way, teams are encouraged to take part in local Round Table India projects by making donations to help build new schools, and by distributing supplies to existing schools.

Anyone who wishes to contribute to improving primary education in India can take part in an upcoming contest in which CEMS is giving away two free entries to the 2010 Mumbai Xpress Rickshaw Challenge, along with round-trip airfare to Chennai, India, and hotel accommodation for the duration of the event. This Rickshaw Slots Contest is being offered in conjunction with GamingZion; information on how to participate can be found on the Rickshaw Slots Contest page.

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Educational Benefits of Children’s Teamwork Exercises

There are considerable educational benefits to children’s teamwork exercises – but don’t tell them that! The reality is, by providing a group of children with a challenge to work with, they may improve communication, leadership and problem solving skills – but as far as they know, they’ll just be having a whole lot of fun.

A great way to get children working as a team is to involve them in school fundraising. In addition to promoting cohesiveness among a group, this will give the children a shared sense of purpose, as they work together to help raise funds for the improvement of their school. By having fun together in a challenging atmosphere, children learn to apply themselves, and become incredibly motivated.

The team aspect also ensures there is no ‘hiding place’, so all children become involved and have something to contribute. This can be hugely beneficial for quieter children, who will have the opportunity to find their special skill, and gain recognition which they may previously have shied away from. Similarly, natural extroverts will have a positive platform for their personality, where leadership skills and creative input is very important. Teamwork among children dramatically improves communication, and as a result, empathy. The result can be old breaking down of barriers, new friendships are formed and children are naturally encouraged to work with others perhaps outside their day-to-day clique of friends.

This improved communication, productivity and group dynamic will have a lasting impact on a class setting. There are many schools fundraising ideas which promote team building among kids as well as helping to generate cash for school trips, equipment and improved facilities. Another good fundraising idea is producing your own school Christmas cards. The team can draw on each child’s talents to design, produce and sell schools Christmas cards.

This can include ideas for themes, painting and drawing, writing of messages, marketing and selling the cards. By involving the various skills and contributions of children, each child is celebrated individually while gaining a sense of belonging to a team. Children benefit from an immense sense of pride in their school if they feel involved in its overall improvements. It’s also a guaranteed winner as a schools fundraising idea – every parent will want to buy their child’s school Christmas card.

My name is Ben Camelas, and I love to write about diets.

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How Can You Reach and Teach Children?

If your job involves teaching children you will know how difficult it can be. For starters their attention spans can be on the short side, leaving you to try and connect with them very quickly indeed.

In days gone by teachers had just some chalk and a blackboard to help them show children ideas and suggestions about the topic in hand. Nowadays we are surrounded by countless other practical and usable solutions to help teachers get their message across.

It is known that different people learn best in different ways. For example some people cannot grasp an idea unless they see it demonstrated in front of them. Others will pick it up more readily if they hear it explained to them. Still more will benefit from seeing an explanation written down.

Children are like this too. In the end we all learn in different ways and the more ways that teachers can engage the children in the classroom, the more likely it is they will get the message through.

While some think that the use of computers does not constitute learning, others beg to differ. Adults may not have grown up with the choice of using computers for learning, but like it or not today’s children have.

This means we have computers and all their associated software to help introduce our children to the type of learning that will engage them the most. All kinds of educational tools can be used by the children to connect them with the learning experience, no matter what the subject might be.

A modern pen and tablet may be a million miles away from the slate and chalk used in decades gone by but it has a place in the modern classroom and it encourages children of all ages to get involved. If this can be instilled at a young age it will also be carried through into learning throughout a child’s school years.

There is no replacement for a good teacher of course. A good teacher can make good use of a variety of tools to aid the learning experience. For example interactive whiteboards provide an essential connection between a computer and the whole class. From showing videos to sharing a presentation on a specific subject, the teacher can use colour, sound, vision and inspiration to reach all kinds of pupils who would otherwise be left behind and be disinterested.

It should be made clear that no amount of equipment can replace a good teacher. When the two form a partnership together there is no end to the ways they can engage the children and make learning fun. After all, isn’t that what learning should be? When children enjoy their lessons they learn more, and that is the power of engaging them with modern technology as well as good teaching.

Victoria Cochrane writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/childhood-education-articles/how-can-you-reach-and-teach-children-1670952.html